Slaw's slugging, Lawter's skipper secure series for struggling No. 3 Hokies

By Ishan Lamba

Staff Writer

April 16, 2022

BLACKSBURG — Meredith Slaw. Hitter of dingers. Breaker of hearts. Remember the name.

Trailing by a run with three outs left in the game, Slaw strolled up to the left-handed batter’s box. She took one strike before fetching a low-and-outside pitch, obliterating a ball straight into the light pole beyond the left field wall.

The most popular woman in Blacksburg was cheered around the bases, and the crowd had a rejuvenated hope of victory.

That hope grew as Alexa Milius reached first base courtesy of a fielding error by the normally perfect Sarah Coon at third base.

Molly Grube, who entered in relief for Murphy, was given the hook in favor of Madison Harris, who recorded the final out in Friday night’s game.

She struggled to find the strike zone initially, walking Morgan Overaitis in four pitches.

After fighting back against Jayme Bailey to strike her out, Mackenzie Lawter skipped one through the center field gap to score Maddy Federico, pinch running for Milius, and cap off a win that looked largely improbable.

“It was exciting," Lawter told 3304 Sports after the game. "Meredith [Slaw] had a really big home run [earlier in the] inning to tie it up and I knew I had an opportunity. I was in a 2-2 count I think and was just trying to get something out to give [Maddy Federico] a chance to score.”

The victory put an end to a series that made Tech look as ordinary as they did against Alabama, despite VT dominating the series in recent years.

“I think [UVa's] pitchers did a really good job," Lawter explained. "They just kept us off-balance. They were in there competing and their hitters had great at-bats. So it was a tough series, it was a battle all the way through, we were fortunate to come out today with a big win.”

The junior willed N0. 3 Virginia Tech (32-6, 15-2 Atlantic Coast) to an unlikely 5-4, eight-inning victory over in-state rival Virginia (23-21, 9-9 ACC) Saturday afternoon.

The rubber match, like the two games preceding it, saw Virginia Tech’s offense struggle mightily.

Aside from Gabby Baylog advancing to first on a dropped third strike and leadoff single from Cameron Fagan, the first inning came and went without much disturbance.

In the second inning, though, Virginia made another offensive statement against the best pitching team in the ACC.

After two quick outs, Reece Holbrook was the lucky recipient of a fielding error from Milius at third base.

Arizona Ritchie followed it up with a perfectly placed bunt down the right field. Lawter fielded it and fired it to Fagan covering first. The ball went in and out of the glove, knocked out as Ritchie breezed through first.

Holbrook advanced to third through all the confusion, and Ritchie was able to steal second during the next at-bat.

Bailey Winscott delivered the important hit, with a gapper into right field to score Holbrook. A Morgan Overaitis throw was the only thing that stopped Ritchie from reaching home.

Virginia had scored the first run in every single game this series, and Tech found itself in a usual spot this weekend, trailing 1-0.

After allowing two runners on with one out, a conference in the circle straightened out starter Morgan Murphy, as she retired the next two to preserve the lead.

The Cavaliers put on heavy pressure in the third, as another two-out rally went in their favor.

Katie Goldberg found an easy single through the left side before Sarah Coon, hitless through eight appearances this series, dismissed a pitch over the plate onto Beamer Way, tripling the Virginia lead.

Tech had a chance in the bottom of the third to drive to get one back, with Kelsey Bennett on first.

Emma Ritter nailed a double into right center and Bennett got the windmill home. Under ordinary circumstances, she would’ve likely been held up, but the frustration from the previous game-and-a-half forced the decision, and she was out at home.

While they couldn’t get anything going in the bottom of the third, the Hokies were ignited by another big hit. Slaw, with a clutch series in Tallahassee against Florida State, hit a bomb to dead center, putting the Hokies on the board.

The Hokies, like the Cavaliers, scored one, then two the inning after.

In the bottom of the fifth, Fagan, as she did three times in the afternoon, led off with a single, and after a quick flyout to left field from Darby Trull, also a three-time occurrence, Bennett had a single of her own.

After an Ritter lineout put the scoring opportunity in jeopardy, Slaw came up big with a perfectly placed blooper single into shallow right center. Three Cavaliers sprinted in and dove to make the grab, but it fell harmlessly to the turf, scoring both runners.

With the game freshly tied, both teams struggled to find footing in the final two innings, totalling just two combined runners.

Treated to some extra innings action, the fans of Tech Softball Park were rowdy as could be, as “Enter Sandman” blared through the loudspeakers. They becamne even rowdier with a walk-off win to take the series.

With little time left until the postseason, the Hokies have a tough road ahead as they look to secure a favorable path to Oklahoma City.

“We have a big midweek [against Tennessee] this week so we just wanna continue to keep getting better, practicing, doing what we can, just keep improving from here on out. We got a long way to go.”

Tech will do battle with the Lady Volunteers Wednesday night in Knoxville at 7 p.m.